Worthy
by Lonersoforlorn
Summary: Karolina Dean keeps floating away. Gertrude Yorkes feels here to stay. Alex Wilder has a lot to say. Nico Minoru feels stuck living a cliche. Molly Hernadez's life is in disarray. Meanwhile, Chase Stein isn't okay. Fairytale au. Also posted on AO3
1. Chapter 1

_Years ago, twelve people, young and full of infinite potential, let darkness encase them. In this darkness, they found protection from a grisly outcome the world they lived in will one day succumb to. _

_If you met one of these twelve people, you wouldn't hear the darkness sparring in their beating hearts. Or even notice the dagger they hold behind their backs. They are your leaders, your friends, or even your family. They commit their crimes, in front of all, yet none hear their roars. _

_Together, they are a pride. A pride which no one knew existed. A pride that was unstoppable. Until one day..._

Karolina can never see any of the faithful followers who visit her, because she floats high above them, high enough that to her they look like markers placed on the ground. The ground of which, Karolina's never had the chance to step on.

Karolina is different from all those born before her and yet also different from any born after. She's a miracle. She's a wonder. She's a diamond plucked from out of the night sky. Her parents had made this discovery just hours after Karolina was born.

When Karolina's parents walked into her nursery, they had expected to greet their new baby girl by peering down at her sleeping peacefully in her cradle. However, that wasn't the sight they ended up seeing before them. No, instead, they had walked in and found Karolina floating high above her cradle, shining like a prism hit by a curious light. This discovery had left them both shocked, so shocked that Karolina's mother fell back into Karolina's father's shaking arms.

The prophecy of radiance had come true; a prophecy of whom all followers of light had wished to encounter in their lifetime. The followers of light had many songs foretelling this prophecy. Songs that Karolina could only hear the faintest of echoes of when a gathering of followers was chosen to glimpse at her.

Followers that her parents were chosen by the light itself to lead. A responsibility that filled both of Karolina's parents with pride. Pride because their daughter was the messenger, a foretold follower bathed in the light before she was even born, leaving her with abilities that no mere mortal would ever understand.

The messenger who will bless all of whom will accept the light, so they can free themselves from the darkness. The messenger who would, at last, lead the church to the brightest light that only those who were Ultra could catch a glimmer of. The messenger who could only be seen by those who were deemed worthy. Those who were deemed ultra.

Worthy. A word that weighs on Karolina's mind like her parent's pride weighs on her shoulders. Sometimes Karolina wonders if the weight will pull her down. She wonders if it'll let her place her feet on the ground, the ground of which, she's never had the chance to step on.

Karolina keeps on floating, however, her body stays weightless, the ground of which, she's never had the chance to step on is always so far below. Always out of her reach.

Karolina hears a bell, an indication that soon one of her parents will check in on her. She readies herself, going over every word of the prophecy of radiance. Her mind lingers on one sentence of the prophecy. The sentence that spoke of Karolina blessing all of whom will accept the light.

Karolina was the messenger, a guide that only the worthy were granted to see. Yet, the Book Of Gibborim spoke of all who accept the light. All of who Karolina will lead. Karolina couldn't help but think that maybe her—

"Karolina," Her mother calls, stopping Karolina's thoughts from floating, making them sink deep into her mind where she was scared to venture.

"Yes?" Karolina says, her tone exposing she was thinking of something she wasn't supposed to. Thinking of something that could possibly dim her light.

Karolina looks below her, her eyes settling on the lonesome platform where her mother stands. The platform is built from apophyllite crystals that were acquired by the first follower of light while on their journey to seek the brightness. Sadly, the first follower's journey didn't find success.

However, their journey ended up inspiring many to seek the brightness and in turn, lead to the Church Of Gibborim's creation. That first follower of light was also Karolina's ancestor through her mother's lineage, a fact that Karolina's mother held onto with pride.

Speaking of her mother, Karolina realizes her mother hasn't spoken again, so she snaps herself away from her thoughts. Her mother's eyes are searching, searching Karolina's face as if every thought Karolina's ever had was written on it. Sadly, for Karolina it was and she knew it would take her mother just a minute to decipher what she was dwelling on.

"Today's services ended early." Karolina says, starting up small talk."Is there anything interesting happening in the kingdom today?"

"No, nothing of interest is happening in our small kingdom, Karolina." Her mother answers, looking at Karolina with eyes full of suspicion.

Karolina nervously adjusts the rope that's tied around her waist. A rope that for as long as Karolina could remember was always there. A rope that kept Karolina from drifting away to the ceiling above her.

"You shouldn't dwell on the world outside our church, Karolina, for the world is covered in darkness." Karolina's mother's expression softens when she sees the guilty look on Karolina's face. "Why do you think the light has blessed you to only float upwards?"

"I don't know," Karolina admits. She then starts to apologize for letting in thoughts that could dim her light but her mother speaks up again.

"Karolina, you were sent by the light to spread its message. You were meant to rise above the darkness and so the light blesses you to rise."

"I know," Karolina says, her voice shaking a little.

"Recite the prophecy of radiance, now." Her mother orders and Karolina instantly obeys.

As Karolina recites every word of the prophecy with perfect precision, one sentence of the prophecy replays in her mind. The same sentence she was contemplating on earlier.

"And who is this being of light the prophecy speaks of?" Karolina's mother asks with a prideful smile on her face even though both she and Karolina knew the answer.

"Me," Karolina answers, still in deep thought. She considers voicing her interpretation of the prophecy of radiance to her mother but decides against it. Instead, she thinks of how excited the prophecy of radiance makes her feel.

She loves the prophecy of radiance because it's the prophecy that foretold her existence. The prophecy that talked about how special and needed Karolina was. The prophecy she couldn't wait to fulfill.

But how could she fulfill it when she could barely see the people below her? Karolina gains confidence and asks her mother the question rising in her mind.

Karolina's mother is silent and her expression turns into one of disapproval. Suddenly, it sheds as if it was never there. Her expression is now a comforting one but the words she's saying are barbed and laced with poison which spreads guilt throughout Karolina's veins.

"Why are you asking such a question?"Her mother says, tilting her head as her nostrils flared. As her posture stiffens."Are you trying to cause your light to dim?"

Karolina's mother continues speaking, her tone becoming calmer."Karolina, you needn't worry about something such as that. You're a marvel. A blessing to all who even hear of you. It would be so selfish of you to let those that weren't holy enough see you."

Karolina, however, felt as if her evidence was sound because the prophecy spoke of her doing just so. Plus, she was the messenger, wouldn't she know best what the light wanted? Karolina tries to explain her reasoning but the words her mother poisoned her with replay in her head.

Karolina feels like she's sinking down but still, she manages to stay afloat. Always floating. Always upward. Always knowing her feet will never step on the ground.

Even with the poison of guilt running through her veins, Karolina decides to use her voice.

"I want to see what the floor of this room looks like, mother. I want to take a step on the ground. I want everyone who believes in the light to know that I am here."

"Oh, Karolina." Her mother says gently. "Everyone knows that you're here. You're our beacon and you're way too precious to ever step foot on the ground below."

Karolina nods, deciding that it's best to let the conversation go. Yet, a part of her knows she'll bring it up again. A part of her knows, she'll wish for a different answer. An answer that she knows will never come.

Her mother smiles, this time without pride and starts telling Karolina what was picked from the garden today. Karolina is halfway paying attention, her ears are listening but her eyes are looking down at the faithful followers below her. They're leaving the room in an orderly fashion. The dots of them disappear and Karolina feels a mixture of emotions. Longing. Shame. Envy.

The last emotion twists her up inside because envy wasn't the way of the light. According to the passages that Karolina had memorized, an emotion like envy could extinguish someone's light.

And as the light's chosen messenger, Karolina's light could never fade.

Karolina brushes away her envy but a question plants itself in her mind. How could she spread a message when her voice could never be heard?


	2. Chapter 2

Gertrude Yorkes is always dreaming of the future. The future that definitely didn't involve her having to drop off her parent's newest vegetable experiments in the village square. She hates completing the repetitious task almost as much as she hates her own name. No, she takes that thought back. There was nothing Gertrude hated more than her name.

If Gertrude could travel back in time, she would go back to the day she was born and demand her parents change her name. But time travel wasn't real. Things like that only existed in the many books Gertrude read. So until she could find a time machine, she preferred it if everyone called her Gert.

Gert had always preferred to read books set in the future. They allowed her to dream that the many flaws in society would one day be fixed. But Gert wasn't just a dreamer, she was a girl of action. A girl who uses her voice with the hope that some of the things she spoke out on were fixed sooner rather than later.

However, as loud as Gert speaks, she's never heard, so no change comes to be. Her words aren't even valued or even seen as true. Because in the eyes of her village words were only authentic if they're spoken out of the mouth of a man.

Gert hates how life is in this village, so she's always dreaming of the future. Gert wanders in books. In one of the books she's recently read, a travel guide, they spoke of the nearby Kingdom of Gibborim. A kingdom that her parents visited frequently and provided most of their vegetation. Vegetation that they had spent years experimenting on to make... well, Gert didn't know. It was easier to drone her parent's out than for her to actually listen to them.

The Kingdom Of Gibborim reads like a fairy tale. In the Kingdom of Gibborim, everyone was equal and every voice was always heard. It was a dream. Unreal. Gert had started begging her parents to take her along with them on their trips to the kingdom. It had always lead to an uncomfortable conversation that always seemed to occur in the middle of Gert and her parent's eating breakfast. Gert thinks about the conversation that happened this morning.

"So have you been thinking about your future?" Her mother had asked in delight, not so subtly sharing a look with Gert's dad. Delight that had caused Gert to shift uncomfortably in her seat.

"Are we really having another you should take over the family business talk?" Gert responded, her voice filled with blunt annoyance.

The sides of her mother's lips had gone down into a frown and Gert regretted not hiding her annoyance. But all she wanted was to go on one trip out of the village, she had no idea how it ended up becoming a talk about her future.

"Well, what would you prefer? Joining your dad and me…" Her mother had let her voice trail as she glanced over to Gert's dad who always wore an optimistic smile. Something which kind of creeped a realist like Gert out." or getting married?"

Her mom's tone had dropped and distaste was evident in her voice.

"Neither. Neither sound good." Gert quipped, moving around the blueberry decorating her pancakes.

"Gertrude, you should at least start thinking of your future." Her dad chimed in.

Gert Yorkes is always dreaming of the future. But her parents didn't see that. No one did. They didn't know that her perfect destined fate was her giving a voice to the voiceless. But a future like that was unrealistic and it wasn't apart of the world that Gertrude lived in now.

Gert was silent, something unusual for the girl that was usually so loud. She had decided long ago that neither of her parents would understand what she felt or where she was even coming from. Especially because they had taken a simple request of her joining them on their travels as meaning something that Gertrude didn't even want to dwell on yet.

Gert's face twists at the memory or at the stall that now stands in front of her. She wasn't exactly sure what aggravated her the most at the moment.

Gert places the basket full of vegetables she's carrying on the shelf of the stall. She doesn't even bother sorting through it because she knows no one will even buy anything. Well, no one but the Wilder's and Stein's who were coworkers and friends of her parents.

It wasn't them, however, who were the actual ones buying from Gert's parent's stall. No, it was their sons which left Gert feeling excruciatingly awkward because they were once friends.

Alex Wilder still seemed to think they were. He always tried to make small talk with her and even called her Gert in a tone that implied they were still friends. Chase Stein, on the other hand, was distant when other people were near the stall. They would only converse when his parents forced him to walk her home to ensure she gets there safe. Something Gert would always scoff at because she could take care of herself. She didn't need big and strong Chase to play her knight in shining armor. Not that he ever did a good job of it with him always being so easily distracted by anyone noticing he's even near her.

Gert didn't want to think of them. She wanted her parents to come by so she could find her courage and once again try to inform the village of a wrong. Recently, Gert had found proof that a prestigious villager's ancestor didn't find the village as his descendants had claimed. With this proof, Gert had at first run to the village historian who ended up shunning her because of her gender.

His shunning had caused Gert to plan to announce her findings in the village square. But she couldn't watch her parent's stall and focus on presenting her proof to the public. Could she? It wasn't like anyone would come and buy anything from them anyway. Sure, her parents would be upset with her if they knew but they wouldn't come by till the middle of the day.

Gert places a hand in her pocket and pulls out a carefully folded page. A page from a book that showed proof of her findings. She unfolds the page and runs to the middle of the village square. There she holds the page up high and in a quaky voice yells out all that she had found.

At first, she's ignored. People walk past her for hours not even sparing her a glance. All of that changes, however, when a crowd of people starts surrounding her. A crowd of people who were all around the same age as Gert.

"That girl is so rude!" Eiffel, the prettiest girl in the village loudly declares, speaking about Gert as if she isn't standing right in front of her. "Can you believe she has the nerve to speak about my family? And she's even telling everyone that my family doesn't deserve any of their hard-earned wealth!"

Gert has to bite down hard on her lip to resist quipping back at Eiffel's declaration in anger. Eiffel's family didn't earn anything they had. Most of Eiffel's family's wealth was inherited from an ancestor who had lied about finding this village. Her ancestor who had only received wealth because the villagers had given him a finders fee.

Gert looks around the crowd surrounding her and realizes every single one of them is friends with Eiffel. Making this more of a mob than a crowd. Gert's eyes widen in horror at this realization.

She manages to keep it at bay when she realizes that everyone in the crowd is holding various vegetables from the basket on the shelf of her parent's stall. Gert lurches forward and tries to swipe them from their hands but she doesn't manage to grab hold.

"Those aren't yours!" She protests which draws laughter from them all. Gert Yorkes is always dreaming of the future and in that future, she's sure people won't do petty things like this.

Gert tries to swipe it from them again but then they start to throw the stolen vegetables at her. Gert's body freezes and through a space in the crowd, she somehow manages to make eye contact with the one person not throwing anything at her.

Humiliation washes over Gert as she stares blankly at Chase Stein. Chase Stein, who once was her friend. Chase Stein who wouldn't even publicly acknowledge her existence. Especially in front of them.

Chase Stein shakes his head at Gert while wearing a disapproving expression. His expression had reminded Gert of a conversation that they once had years ago.

The night was cold as Gert and Chase walked to her house. Chase's parents had once again forced him to walk Gert home and once again Gert couldn't find the correct way to say no.

"Why do you always cause trouble?" Chase had inquired, his breaths smoke the night air.

"I don't cause trouble," Gert answered, offended. Cold air almost nips her lips frozen but she continued to speak."I stand up for what I believe in."

"Alright, then why does everything you believe in seem to be the exact opposite of everything that's normal?" Chase said, rewording his question from earlier.

"Have you ever thought that maybe what everyone else believes in here isn't normal?" Gert questioned back. "I've heard in the Kingdom Of Gibborim men and women are equal. And unlike this village, they actually care about helping people."

"Then why don't you move to the Kingdom Of Gibborim. Why stay here in this village that you clearly hate so much?"

Gertrude Yorkes is always dreaming of the future but when it felt so close it left her terrified because she knew the outcome she dreamed of wouldn't come true.

Gert's home came into view and she had sped up, wanting to avoid answering Chase's question. She had expected Chase to stop following her but he continued to do so until Gert reached her door.

Before opening it, Gert decides to answer his question but in a hushed tone, she's sure he wouldn't hear. "Because I don't have a choice."

She then rushed inside her house and slammed the door, leaving Chase Stein to the cold night.

None of the questions or disapprovals that were crooned from the crowds in the village have ever stopped Gert from fighting for what she believed in. Yet there was something that could stop Gert from fighting.

A feeling to be exact. A feeling that always seemed to creep around her stomach and crawl up until it settled in her throat. A feeling that felt a lot like panic.

That feeling would take hold of Gert whenever she felt overwhelmed. Gert could be reading a book, protesting, or just waking up and panic would come. Panic would always come.

Her stomach would always tighten up and she would feel trapped. Trapped in every sense. Trapped in this village. Trapped by her parents who never seemed to understand her. And trapped and betrayed by her own body that constantly filled her with panic.

But Gert would never admit it. Gert swore she feared nothing. And usually, she didn't. It was her tightening stomach that was the problem. It was her dreaded thoughts that planted itself deep in the roots of her mind as if it were a vegetable in her parent's garden. It was her heart beating so erratically, so loud and hard against her chest that was the cause of her distress.

Yet, nevertheless, Gert still swore she feared nothing. As it wasn't her but her body that truly held onto fear. Fear that freezes her body now. Fear that's combining with humiliation. Gert feels her breaths coming in and out faster and faster each time she breathes. But she won't give in.

Slowing her breaths, she does what she does best; Gert Yorkes dreams of the future.

A.N. Thank you guys for the reviews! This is my first runaways fic ever so I was super nervous and I'm really glad you guys enjoyed it! Also yes, I love runaways! I'm way behind in the comics though. But sigh it's a shame that Disney canceled the show because I was looking forward to more content. Highkey, Runaways and Cloak and Dagger were like their best shows but I digress. Anyway, thank you again to everyone who's left a review/faved/alerted and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

_Knock. Knock. Knock._ Molly Hernadez can already hear herself knocking on the Yorkes front door. A front door that's only about six skips away. Or so it was before.

But Molly has grown taller since her last visit to the Yorkes household. In fact, she's grown tall enough to reach the shelf of rocks that her parents were assigned by the King and Queen of Gibborim to study. Rocks that she was never allowed to touch which she didn't understand because they looked perfectly normal.

Her parents, however, had told her the rocks were dangerous. They had told her to not even think about touching any of them but Molly had thought about it. A lot. She had thought about it when her parents had taken her to their volunteer trips to help feed those less fortunate than them. While her mother and father were checking on the kids around her age, she was imagining herself sneaking into their study room and well, touching the rocks.

Now Molly knew it was wrong to think about it and she really did try to push down the thoughts that kept showcasing in her mind but in the end, Molly had snuck into her parent's study and touched one of the rocks. She had felt guilty while rolling the rock around her palm. She had even felt scared of the impending danger that might come. But in the end, nothing happened.

Well, until her father woke her up in the middle of the night and carried her to the front of a wagon. A wagon that her parents had used to deliver the rocks they researched to the King and Queen. At the front of the wagon, sat Molly's mother who swept Molly into a big hug. She stroked Molly's hair and held onto her as if Molly would disappear with the snap of large purple man's fingers.

Molly had fallen back into her deep sleep and now she and her parents were in front of the Yorkes house door. A door that prior to Molly's latest growth spurt was six skips away. Molly starts skipping and her parents trail behind her with footsteps that sound oddly cautious

_Knock. Knock. Knock._ The imaginative sound of Molly's knocking gets louder, so loud that it drowns out the footsteps of her parents and her own. Molly stops skipping.

Molly wonders for a moment if the knocking sound she's hearing is the sound of her excited heart beating. Except, her heartbeat had never sounded like that before. Even in her most exciting moment, Molly's heartbeat was more of a happy rhythm that always seemed to match the sound of her skipping feet.

At the moment, Molly's excitement feels different from any other time before. Probably because it's been so long since she's seen the Yorkes last. It feels like it's been centuries. Although anytime, she asks her mom, she's told it's only been six months or so. Still, it felt even longer than that because Molly didn't even get a chance to see the Yorkes daughter, Gert on her last visit.

Gert who was kind of like an older sister to Molly because ever since Molly was little, Gert had always looked out for her. Plus, Gert was super admirable. She always stood up for what she believed in and when Molly got older she wanted to do the same. Molly's excitement somehow grows even more and she begins to skip again but this time she holds her hands out with ready to knock.

The door looks like it's moving farther away. Molly blinks, knowing that her eyes were deceiving her because doors didn't move on their own. She gets close to the door. Close enough to knock but with a blink the door isn't in front of her at all.

Molly wasn't scared. No, she was just cautious which is definitely not the same as being scared.

She pulls her arm back and lets it fall to her side. She stands still, concentrating on her parent's footsteps. The footsteps that are oddly cautious. The footsteps she realizes for some reason aren't catching up with her.

Molly looks behind her, wanting confirmation that what she just experienced didn't happen at all. So Molly turns around and sees that even though her parents are walking they aren't moving closer to her. In fact, they seemed glued in place.

Molly turns and starts walking to where her parents are. She puts her hand out and readies herself to grab her mother's hand when suddenly she hears another sound. A sound that comes from in front of her. A sound that is definitely not footsteps. A sound that she's now convinced isn't her heartbeat. Or her imagination.

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _The sound is frantic. The sound is pleading. The sound terrifies her. Molly wants to run into her mother's arms and silence the sound but Molly also wanted to be brave like Gert. Molly looks in the direction of the Yorkes front door and sees that no one is standing there. No one is even close enough to knock.

"Did you check on her?" Molly hears her mother ask in a concerned tone. Molly whips her head back in the direction of her parents and sees them both looking at her with worried eyes.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._ The sound is louder than before.

"She'll be fine." Molly's dad responded in a gruff tone that didn't match the worry on his face. "It's us we should be worried about."

"I am worried about us. All of us." Molly's mother emphasizes the word all. "We should've just told them everything. Maybe if we did they wouldn't want to hurt us. Maybe we would've both been spared."

Molly's father responds with a laugh that holds no humor. It's a laugh that Molly's never heard before. As her father's laughs are usually full of life and joy. This one, however, was full of bitterness.

"Okay, you're right but maybe they would've spared Molly." Molly's mother continues.

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _Molly runs to her parents and this time she grabs her mother's hand.

"Spare? Hurt?" Molly repeats. "Mom, what are you talking about? Why would anyone want to hurt any of us? What's going on?"

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _Her parents are both silent to her questions and Molly feels afraid.

"No one will hurt, Molly." Her dad says in a firm tone that doesn't relinquish Molly's fear. "She's stirring, must be having a nightmare."

Molly goes to say something but she hears a soothing rhythm and then her parents who are no longer glued in place bring her into a family hug. The fear she feels disappears as she listens to her mother sing an old lullaby off-key and even though she was standing outside the Yorkes family door Molly finds herself falling back into her deep sleep.

Sleep. Molly had been sleeping a lot lately and she didn't know why. Neither did her parents but they assumed it had something to do with her recent growth spurts. Her dad had even joked that one day she'll wake up and be a giant. Something that Molly definitely didn't want to happen.

Although, if she was a giant, she could lift up all the boulders and rock piles that her parents had to spend hours using various tools to make smaller. It would be great! She would help her parents and never be left behind because it was too dangerous. In fact, Molly could easily pick up any danger they encountered and laugh in its face. Hmm, maybe Molly did want to become a giant after all.

Molly leans over to where her mother sits but finds herself falling onto an empty seat. She wakes up, eye to eye with the smooth wood of the seat. Still groggy, Molly calls for her mother but her tone is low and a little rough from just waking up so her mother doesn't hear.

"Where is she? How could she just disappear?" Molly hears her father say in a voice drenched with worry.

Before Molly can respond to assure her parents that she was right here, her mother speaks. "We'll find her but whatever you do, remember that we can't let the Yorkes become suspicious of us."

Molly jolts upward. Her voice sanded down as she says it in a louder tone. "Why would the Yorkes be suspicious of us?"

Molly's words catch the attention of her parents. They both walk to the front of the wagon and greet Molly with nervous smiles.

"The Yorkes are our friends, aren't they? Why would they be suspicious of us?" Molly continues, straightening up her posture.

Molly's mother steps on an elevated step to enter the front of the wagon and Molly slides to the opposite side so her mother can sit.

"You see, Molly…" Her mother looks to her father who nods her on."Your father and I found something. Something that we can't let anyone know about."

"Even me?" Molly asks with a pout.

Molly's mom bops her nose. "Especially you."

"I can keep a secret." Molly insists.

"I'm sure you can, Molly but for now it's best if you don't know." Her mother responds.

"But you will tell me, right?" Molly pushes.

Molly's mother doesn't say anything more, she just kisses Molly's cheek and gets out of the wagon once again. Molly pouts, feeling disappointed that her parents didn't trust her with their secret. Clearly, they didn't know how good Molly was at keeping them. Molly could only blame herself because she was such an expert at sneaking in and out of their study, full of rocks that she wasn't allowed to touch.

Molly's parents now stand side to side but her father reaches a hand out for Molly to take. Molly grabs ahold of it, lifting herself off of the wooden wagon seat.

Once Molly is out of the wagon and standing in front of her dad, he starts to speak.

"No, we won't." Molly's father states firmly, answering Molly's question.

"Why?" Molly objects, her voice coming out in a whine.

"You're too young." Her father responds.

Molly starts to protest, her mannerisms childish as her foot is partially off of the ground. She lowers her foot and tilts her chin up high.

"I'm not a child," Molly says, gently biting down on her lower lip.

"You're fourteen." Her father reminds her. As if she wasn't constantly reminded every day of her life!

"When you were my age you went on your first cave exploration alone." Molly counters. "So why am I not old enough to know your secret?"

Molly's father lets out a frustrated breath that causes Molly's mother to break her silence.

"Alright, you two, let's talk about this later. Are you forgetting where we are?" Molly's mother points behind her and Molly's gaze follows.

The Yorkes front door. The door that Molly dreamed of. The door that kept slipping from her reach.

Molly wonders for a second if she's dreaming. She pinches herself on the wrist to make sure. After letting out a sound of pain, she's assured that she's not dreaming at all.

She starts to skip. No sound of knocking is playing in her ear. Once she reaches the Yorkes front door, it doesn't slip away. Molly finds herself forgetting all about that terrible dream.

She knocks. Three Times. Even with that dream forgotten, she still feels a shiver crawl up her spine. Again, the door doesn't move away or pull itself out of her reach.

Molly feels at ease when the Yorkes front door opens and they greet her by sweeping her into a big hug. They start asking her questions but she doesn't get to answer because her parents reach the Yorkes front doorway and bring the Yorkes attention to them.

The Yorkes and her parents exchange greetings and short hugs. Everything is like it always is. There's no suspicion rising in the Yorkes eyes and no secrets are hidden in her parent's expressions.

Molly decides to forget all of her earlier concerns. She even decides to forget how badly she wants to know the secret that her parents are hiding. All Molly wants to think about is how much fun she and Gert were going to have.

Which is why she curiously asks where Gert is now.

"No." Gert's mother answers, her expression regretful."We sent her to work at the stall earlier."

"Can I go to the stall?" Molly begs, turning to her parents.

"Molly, no. It's…" Her mother's voice trails off and Molly's father starts to speak.

"Of course, you can go." Molly's father says while affectionately patting her shoulder.

"Gene." Molly's mother protests but Molly's father holds his hand up to explain his reasoning.

"Alice, we wouldn't want to bore Molly with all of our work talk, would we?"

"I can easily whip her up a snack to eat in the kitchen." Mr. Yorkes suggests and continues on. "We've actually finally got one of our experiment fruits to ripen and would love some feedback on it."

"Ooh," Molly says interested but then thinks of the past Yorkes vegetables she sampled. "It's not going to taste weird is it. Because last time the broccoli tasted like a rock."

The Yorkes and both of Molly's parents laugh.

"You always think broccoli tastes like rocks, Molly." Her mother points out.

"It's because it does," Molly complains. "But it doesn't matter because I'm not hungry at all. Right now, I just want to see Gert!"

"It has been a while since the girls have last seen each other." Mrs. Yorkes muses. "Maybe we all should go down and see Gert. Then we can stop by the Wilder's for lunch."

"No!" Molly's parents object. "We would prefer to stay here at the moment."

"Is it okay if we send Molly off alone then?" Mr. Yorkes asks while adjusting his glasses.

Molly can see that her father wants to say no but whatever he has to say to the Yorkes outweighs his usual worried thoughts.

"You go straight to Gert. You speak to no one you don't know and if you feel unsafe in any way you come back here, okay?" Her father says in a stern tone.

Molly smiles a wide smile that felt almost the same distance between her and Gert.

"Thank you!" She shouts, giving both her father and her mother a big hug.

"Remember, Molly, anytime you feel unsafe, you run back to us." Her father reiterates again.

"I will."

Molly's walk to the town square was perfectly safe and perfectly boring. Once she got closer to the center of the square that all changed. She sees a crowd all gathered together and blocking the view of whatever they were looking at.

Molly's curiosity triumphs over any apprehension she feels, so she decides to go over to where the crowd is gathered. It takes her a minute to fully realize what's going on. To fully take in the cruelty of their actions. Her hands curl into fists.

Molly darts over to one of the boys throwing vegetables and realizes that those vegetables were the ones Gert's parents grew. Meaning…the girl these people were harassing was Gert.

Gert Yorkes, who she hasn't seen in so long. Gert Yorkes who she greatly admires. Gert Yorkes who now looks consumed by fear.

Molly quickly yanks the vegetable out of the boy's hands.

"Stop it!" Molly demands with a glare at the boy.

Molly then goes to rush over to Gert but someone jerks her arm back. Molly hears someone protesting what the village boy is doing to her but whoever it is doesn't bother to do anything more to help her. Molly turns around, her eyes in a fiery glare. The person who jerked her arm back is the same village boy she yanked the vegetable from.

Wax drips of anger fall from his face, making it grow redder and redder. Molly pulls away from his grip but he pulls on her arm harder.

Suddenly, Molly feels something rising inside of her. Something that turns her irises orange and makes all who catch sight of her eyes jolt back in fear. Molly grabs a hold of the shirt of the village boy who jerked back her arm, she lifts her arm up, holding onto him. He rises. The waxy drips of anger harden and leave him cold with fear.

With a smile, Molly throws him into the fountain that lies in the middle of the village square.

**A.N.** Thank you all for the reviews! I was super nervous about not having Gert's voice down, so I'm so relieved that you guys felt that I did it right. Yes, I am a huge young avengers fan! I love Wiccan and Hulkling! Though I'm currently not caught up on any of their or the current original young avengers arcs at the moment. But I did hear that Wiccan is now sorcerer supreme and I'm just so proud. Anyway, thank you all again for the reviews/fave/alerts!


End file.
